Tomato Citrus Soup

Time: 4-5 hours (idle 3 1/2 hours)
Yield: 10+ cups
Clean Eat

Mmmmm....nothing beats all the vegetables my fall garden harvest brings! Squash, celery, cucumbers, onions, herbs, but most of all TOMATOES!!! This is one of my all-time favorite fall time soups (my family's too!) which uses up a lot of those tomatoes that the rain has maybe split open...or that have been sitting on the counter for too long. Side note, my husband actually does NOT like tomatoes, but LOVES this soup! The longer you cook the tomatoes, the better the flavors marry together. This soup is strictly veggies, so I do like to add some sort of nut butter or nut cream on top, for protein, otherwise I'm still hungry! I also add some fun things to this soup--read below to see what different things I throw in this...

Ingredients:

• 14-16 cups vine ripened tomatoes (skin on, seeds in)
• 5 cloves peeled garlic
• 1 small onion
• 2 large carrots
• Juice of 1 orange
• 1 handful fresh basil
• 1 TB fresh oregano
• 1 TB fresh thyme
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• 2 TB vegetable bouillon
• 1 TB extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups water, divided
• 1 TB fresh cracked pepper
• Salt to taste
• 1 cup raw cashews
• 2 TB cashew milk (or water is fine if you don't have it)

Directions:

• In a heavy bottomed pot, heat 1 TB olive oil over medium high heat
• Finely chop onion, add to pot, sauté until translucent
• Add salt and finely chopped garlic
• Add peeled and chopped carrots, sauté until just browned
• Deglaze the pot with the juice of one orange
• Add chopped spices/herbs, bouillon and tomatoes (you can add them whole but stemmed)
• Add 1 cup water
• Cover and simmer for 3-4 hours, stirring every 10-15 minutes or so just to keep from burning--uncover for the last hour to thicken a bit
• After soup has finished simmering, either puree with an immersion blender or puree in a blender (be careful because it will be hot!!)

Cashew Cream:

• Place 1 cup of cashews in 1 cup of warm water, soak for 1 hour
• Blend cashews on high with 1-2 TB of cashew milk or water, adding a little salt to finish
• Serve a dollop on top of the hot soup to make it extra creamy!